When using Photoshop, have you ever encountered a small crosshair on your canvas? Perhaps you noticed this crosshair, and then couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. This is called the '"info tool" - and it's more useful that you might realize. Let's see what it does!

Free transform is an essential tool for digital painting. Snapping is an important aspect of this tool, but many artists don't know how to control the effect. In this short video, we'll explore 'snapping' in the free transform tool.

Today's video wrestles with the question "when painting, is it cheating to include photos in your image?" Every artist has a different answer, but many contemporary digital painters have fully embraced photos as part of the painting process. In this video I'll show a variety of tools (including photos) that lead to one of my paintings.

Thanks to reader Dante who asked a great question in the comments to last week's video. I know he's not the only who feels conflicted, so let's talk about it!

Photographs can be a great addition to the painting process. In other videos I've talked about photos in the context of 'reference', but what about using them right in your painting? The trick is knowing how to properly integrate them, so it's impossible to see where your brushstrokes end and the photo begins. The tools are tricky and take time to learn, but it's a worthwhile process. If you'd like to know more about this process, I encourage you to check out my bundle "Digital Realism".

You've probably heard the terms 'Destructive' and 'Non-Destructive'. When it comes to digital painting, what do they mean? This brief video explains the difference, and my recommendation for successful illustration.

In this video I wrap up a short mini-series on the tricky balance of precision and dynamism. Instead of focusing on individual tools, this time we'll look the importance of keyboard shortcuts. Make sure to watch parts one and two!

Painting balances two crucial factors: control and fluidity. Some of Photoshop's tools encourage fluidity, and many encourage control - but they're often in conflict. You'll see this while watching youtube videos from other artists: some work very loose and fast, while others work very tight and slow. In this video I demonstrate how the 'lock transparent pixels' checkbox helps you balance both approaches.

Practical steps for adding polish and detail to your paintings.

Once you have a clear grasp of basic painting techniques, it can be tricky knowing how to proceed. How are those other artists making such realistic paintings? In many cases, you're seeing digital paintings subtly layered with photographic elements. The methods of adding detail might not feel much like traditional painting, but they offer huge potential. This collection helps you get started. The 6 included series have a total runtime of 367 minutes.

Note: This is an intermediate level course, and is designed as a followup to the Digital Painting and Color starter kits.

Learning to critique and improve your own work is hard. Finding issues with your own creations is hard. In this video I recommend a different approach to help get the ball rolling. And if you haven't checked it out yet, make sure to watch the related "Fix List" videos to guide your improvements. Have fun!

Want to improve your polish? Don't rush. This video explores the importance of preparation and patience - using some of my old work as a cautionary tale. Learn from my mistakes: it isn't cool to work fast.

Sometimes Photoshop brushes don't work right. Or at least it seems that way. This video is an answer to one of the common questions I'm asked: "why is my brush broken?". It might not solve every problem, but it's a hidden setting that you might never discover on your own. I hope it helps!

When adding photographic elements to an image, they're never quite the right shape. Maybe it's a perspective problem, or maybe it's just slightly skewed - but photos always need to be integrated into you painting. In this video I'll show one of the most powerful, if situational, ways to twist and bend elements. This is so cool.

Color is a tricky area for many digital painters. Like adding sugar to salt to a recipe, too much is harmful - too little is a missed opportunity - but finding the right balance takes years of practice. To make matters worse, color can feel elusive and inconsistent since its perception is relative, based on surrounding values. For these reasons and more, color offers many opportunities to trip up beginners. In this episode of the fix list, we'll explore some of the most common challenges - as well as versatile solutions.

I don’t know where the myth originated from, but artists feel ‘dishonorable’ when using reference imagery. That looking at photos of your subject is ‘cheating’, and should be avoided at all costs. In my experience, the opposite is true - and all professional artists surround themselves with reference. As illustrators we’re tasked with drawing everything - it’s totally unreasonable that we’d be intimately familiar with every object on earth.

Without reference, it’s easy to revert to crude mental shortcuts. We envision the visual stereotype, or icon, which doesn’t include realistic details or nuance. In this episode of the fix list we’ll see how nearly any image can be improved by looking at reference photos. They’re your friend!

Scale can make or break your illusion of 3d space. It’s the correct sizing of objects within the linear perspective of your scene. Proportion a subset of scale: it’s the size relationship of component parts within each object. If one character is half-sized, or a doorway is doubly tall - the entire image loses credibility.

Whether it’s surface details or object size, scale and proportion challenge beginners. If you’re focusing on one object at a time, it’s easy to lose track of the scene in its entirety, and scale problems are common. This episode of the fix list explores issues with scale, and how to avoid them.

As an additional note, scale is almost always tied to linear perspective - so make sure you’ve learned the basics.

One of the easiest improvements you can make in a painting is to clarify the important shapes. Doing this doesn’t require good craftsmanship, expert painting, or years of experience. All it requires is a bit of planning.

In short, objects are hard to distinguish if they match their background. Imagine the fuzzy edges of a polar bear in an ice storm. Take that same polar bear and place her on a black platform, and she’d be much more visible. This episode of the fix list explores problems with shape clarity, and how to fix them.

Messy brushstrokes and choppy rendering are the bane of beginner paintings. Even the most creative ideas lose steam when presented with bad craftsmanship. The real answer to the problem of craftsmanship is to ‘master your tools’. Improve your brush tool technique through practice. But the fix list is all about actionable advice to fix your current painting, so this video focuses on detail.

Surface detail is a trap for beginners - and often leads to poor craftsmanship. In my experience, it’s better practice to start with the large forms --- and add surface details as a second pass. In this episode of the fix list we’ll explore common problems with details, craftsmanship, and how to paint more clearly.